Jump to content

Some hard choices for Beane on the D-Line


Recommended Posts

 

Leonard Floyd is here on a team friendly one year contract and we would all love to see him extended. 

 

Epenesa has seemingly turned a corner and his rookie contract is up this year.  Can the Bills afford to resign him?

 

Rousseau has one more season under contract and will be a free agent in 2025.  He looks like the real deal and it would be great to lock him up long term as a staple of the D-line going forward.

 

DaQuan Jones is a free agent at the end of this season, just like Floyd and Epenesa are, and I suspect DaQuan will be a hot commodity on the free agent market.  Can we afford to bring him back?

 

The dark cloud hovering over all of these personnel decisions for Beane is the massive contract he gave Von to come to Buffalo.  I linked to Von's contract below.  That contract runs through the 2027 season and there are no cheap outs.   Beane has also locked up Ed Oliver long term.  His contract is below too.  The combined cap hit for just Von and Ed next season is a whopping $44.5 mm. 

 

How much more can Beane invest on the D-Line?  Who should he let walk?   I won't even bring up other pending free agents like Rasul Douglas who has to be a priority to resign.

 

Beane is going to have some tough choices to make and the salary cap isn't going to go up enough next year to save him.

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/von-miller-7717/contracts/

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/ed-oliver-29044/contracts/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hindsight is 20/20. Floyd is cheaper to resign, but at what point do age and injuries render him no longer valuable? Same applies to AJ. Players typically don’t last 5 seasons unless they are elite. Signing AJ gives us someone for 4-5 more prime age seasons, so if the choice is you can only sign AJ or Floyd take AJ. 
 

These 1 year deals are on vets are great. I’d try to get Floyd and Jones back on fair incentive laden deals. The veteran players we want are the guys who want to play for championships on a fair market value contract with bonus incentives. 

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greg Rousseau was a first rounder so there is the 5th year option too. The Bills will pick that up this summer and likely extend him after 2024. 

 

On some of the others - I think AJ is gone. He will have a bigger market than most expect unless one of Brian Burns or Josh Allen sneaks through to FA.

 

But conversly I don't see a big market for Daquan Jones. He has always been a good player and his previous two tries at FA have left him with a pretty modest contract. And now he is a 32 year old coming off a torn pec. If the Bills want him back that is an easy deal to do. The question becomes how comfortable are they with where he is at physically to commit money to him again. 

 

Similary on Leonard Floyd. He might have a bit more of a market than he had last year. He has a had a very good season. But there is a reason he was out there for the Bills to sign in the second wave of FA and again he turns 32 as next season begins. It is worth saying on Floyd as well that while his sack number is up on his final two years in LA his pressures were actually down. Now there is two ways to look at that - you can say well his overall snaps are down and maybe he is converting pressures to sacks at a better rate because he is fresher. That is one theory. The other is that his high conversion rate is a bit of an anomoly that won't hold. I'd be inclined to bring him back though. He and Epenese have been by far our most productive pass rushers off the edge and to lose both would leave us thin. 

 

Von I laid out in another thread the other day. Cutting him costs us $17m more than they likely originally planned. But it also saves us $7m against the cap in 2024 and he was just a healthy scratch. I think he is gone.

 

  • Like (+1) 5
  • Agree 1
  • Thank you (+1) 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Floyd - I’m sure they would like him back on a similar deal to this year  …. Might get offered more then they want to pay by another team … 

 

AJ- gone elsewhere in FA .. will get himself a nice deal

 

Rousseau - 5th year option and the one they want to pay long term 

 

Lawson - Usual 1 year deal at $1.3M

 

Miller … welcome back in 2024… too expensive to cut …

 

DT

 

Jones… welcome back … they love him 

 

Settle … will resettle elsewhere 

 

Poona … bye 

 

Philips - not next year …

 

Oliver - you left some money on the table Son  …thank you…for the next 4 years 

 

Might be seeing a bit more of Kingsley Jonathan and Eli Ankou in 2024 … and a couple of Day 3 picks to fill the rest of the holes …

 

Not sure of Plan B if Floyd goes …. Does he have a similar priced clone in the 2024 Free Agency class ?

 

 

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Leonard Floyd is here on a team friendly one year contract and we would all love to see him extended. 

 

Epenesa has seemingly turned a corner and his rookie contract is up this year.  Can the Bills afford to resign him?

 

Rousseau has one more season under contract and will be a free agent in 2025.  He looks like the real deal and it would be great to lock him up long term as a staple of the D-line going forward.

 

DaQuan Jones is a free agent at the end of this season, just like Floyd and Epenesa are, and I suspect DaQuan will be a hot commodity on the free agent market.  Can we afford to bring him back?

 

The dark cloud hovering over all of these personnel decisions for Beane is the massive contract he gave Von to come to Buffalo.  I linked to Von's contract below.  That contract runs through the 2027 season and there are no cheap outs.   Beane has also locked up Ed Oliver long term.  His contract is below too.  The combined cap hit for just Von and Ed next season is a whopping $44.5 mm. 

 

How much more can Beane invest on the D-Line?  Who should he let walk?   I won't even bring up other pending free agents like Rasul Douglas who has to be a priority to resign.

 

Beane is going to have some tough choices to make and the salary cap isn't going to go up enough next year to save him.

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/von-miller-7717/contracts/

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/ed-oliver-29044/contracts/


Yikes. Von is not going anywhere next year with that massive dead cap hit. Let’s just pray he returns at about 80% of what he was. 
 

2025 he’ll be gone. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I can’t believe I’m saying this but they need to draft another DT and DE 🤢

 

(only after WR1 is taken, please!)


Yeh I mean I can get behind that. The awesome thing is that the Douglas trade got us a corner. Benford, Douglas and Johnson. Tre White will likely be cut. 
 

Our LB’s are set with Milano and Bernard. We will need a safety and another DL. 
 

Draft will have to prioritize WR first and then go get our DL/S. I’m super confident Beane and McD can find a S in the later rounds. They have a history of drafting and/or identifying studs in the secondary 

  • Like (+1) 2
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, bobobonators said:


Yeh I mean I can get behind that. The awesome thing is that the Douglas trade got us a corner. Benford, Douglas and Johnson. Tre White will likely be cut. 
 

Our LB’s are set with Milano and Bernard. We will need a safety and another DL. 
 

Draft will have to prioritize WR first and then go get our DL/S. I’m super confident Beane and McD can find a S in the later rounds. They have a history of drafting and/or identifying studs in the secondary 


Yep, top three draft needs, in my

opinion, will be WR, DT and S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe Beane will re-sign AJ.  He'll find enough $ to make it happen.  Draft, develop, and re-sign is what Beane is all about.  They can extend Douglas, has 1 yr left at $9M with no guaranteed $, and likely lower his cap hit in 2024.

 

- re-sign D. Jones

- 5th year option Rousseau

- let Miller go after 2024 imo but    maybe sooner

- Floyd, Settle, Ford, Phillips,         Joseph are likely gone

 

Draft a DT, DE, and S.  Hopefully after they draft a WR in the first.

 

Beane will likely angle the comp pick game again I believe.  If they don't/can't sign AJ, then they'll have Epenesa, Davis, and maybe Floyd get good contracts to yield extra draft picks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let Epenesa walk. He is fools gold. Hopefully they can get a late round comp pick for him.

Let Floyd go to. These guys get old quick. He's already slowed down during this season.

Bring back Jones and let Settle go. 

Find another cheap FA DT and DE.  Draft a mid round DT or edge to develop.

First three picks need to be WR. OT/C, S. After that you can add another WR and a couple guys on the DL

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I can’t believe I’m saying this but they need to draft another DT and DE 🤢

 

(only after WR1 is taken, please!)

And safety...

  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, EmotionallyUnstable said:

I can’t believe I’m saying this but they need to draft another DT and DE 🤢

 

(only after WR1 is taken, please!)

 

They definitely need to draft defensive line. Not an option not to IMO. But I agree their focus on day 1 should be trying to find a wide receiver. 

 

It is really receiver, Dline and safety that are the positions during FA and the draft where they need to find guys. I'd want to draft a young OT too to have something in reserve if Brown ends up walking after 2024.

58 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Let Epenesa walk. He is fools gold. Hopefully they can get a late round comp pick for him.

Let Floyd go to. These guys get old quick. He's already slowed down during this season.

Bring back Jones and let Settle go. 

Find another cheap FA DT and DE.  Draft a mid round DT or edge to develop.

First three picks need to be WR. OT/C, S. After that you can add another WR and a couple guys on the DL

 

 

 

 

Disagree I think they need to go Dline on day 2. 

 

I think they will get a mid round comp pick for next year for Epenesa. 4th or a 5th. 

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Agree 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe they can shame Miller into taking a pay cut or retirement.   Healthy scratches for a 1st ballot HOF’er gotta be tough to swallow.  Build the D Line around Oliver and Rousseau.  Good 1 techs aren’t expensive.  Dequan won’t be expensive and if he wants more money go get a guy like Reader. I’d bring back Epenesa at $10m per year but he’ll probably get more than that, so bring in a vet edge at $10m per year then fill in rest with cheaper vets.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Leonard Floyd is here on a team friendly one year contract and we would all love to see him extended. 

 

Epenesa has seemingly turned a corner and his rookie contract is up this year.  Can the Bills afford to resign him?

 

Rousseau has one more season under contract and will be a free agent in 2025.  He looks like the real deal and it would be great to lock him up long term as a staple of the D-line going forward.

 

DaQuan Jones is a free agent at the end of this season, just like Floyd and Epenesa are, and I suspect DaQuan will be a hot commodity on the free agent market.  Can we afford to bring him back?

 

The dark cloud hovering over all of these personnel decisions for Beane is the massive contract he gave Von to come to Buffalo.  I linked to Von's contract below.  That contract runs through the 2027 season and there are no cheap outs.   Beane has also locked up Ed Oliver long term.  His contract is below too.  The combined cap hit for just Von and Ed next season is a whopping $44.5 mm. 

 

How much more can Beane invest on the D-Line?  Who should he let walk?   I won't even bring up other pending free agents like Rasul Douglas who has to be a priority to resign.

 

Beane is going to have some tough choices to make and the salary cap isn't going to go up enough next year to save him.

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/von-miller-7717/contracts/

 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/buffalo-bills/ed-oliver-29044/contracts/

Miller has to go, take the cap hit and move on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a very specific reason to revive this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...